Device for examining the interior of pipes.



w. w. DIXQN. DEVICE FOR EXAMINING THE INTERIOR OP PIPES.

APPLICATION TILED NOV. 21, 1910.

Sww wto c abhor/1m I u A o c M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. DIXON, F BERNARDSVILLE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB TO UNION CLAYPRODUCTS COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OENEW JERSEY.

drawings.

make use of 'a movable lamp 7 whic DEVICE FOR EXAMINING THE INTERIOR 0FPIPES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. '13, 1912.

Application filed November 21, 1910. Serial No. 593,533.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, WILLIAM W. DrxoN, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Bernardsville, Somerset county, State of specting theinterior of small sewer pipes in order to locate breaks, bad joints orbranch connections. It is adapted for use wherever it is desired toinspect the interior of small pipes which are not accessible to theoperator and the invention is of coursenot limited to any particularuse.

-The novel features of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying In the drawings,Figure 1 is a longitudinal sect-ion of a small sewer having my inventionapplied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of my movable lampand connections; Fig. 3 is'an enlarged view of the telescope andsupport.

In these drawings, 1 represents an ordinary sewer pipe. which is toosmall to be conveniently entered by the operator and 2 represents thewell or manhole into which the operator descends in inspecting thesewer. In order to permit the operator in the manhole to convenientlyinspect the interior of the pipe 1 I make use of the telescope 3 whichis mounted vertically and which has the right angle prism 4 at the lowerend for the purpose ofdireeting the line of sight along the horizontalsewer and it is of course to be understood that the telescope isprovided with the usual-means for focusing it upon an object atdifferent distances. This telescope is held by an ad justable'clamp 5which is supported by tripod legs 6 which are made adjustable. By thissupporting means the lower end of the telescope may be brought to thecenter of the sewer pipe and the line of sight may be directed along it.I

In order to light the interior of the sewer so that defective joints,breaks, or branch pipes may be seen thro'ugh the telesco e, I ispreferably made in cylindrical form as shown with the lens 8 at its end.At each 1 end ofthe lamp I place a series of curved springs 9 which areheld in place by clips 10 which extend around the cylindrical lamp body.These springs may be made of steel bands and I preferably use three ateach end of thelamp projecting radially therefrom so as to bear againstthe interior surface of the p1pe and furnlsh a yielding support 7whlchholds the lamp-practically in the center of. the pipe. Thisyielding support however permits longitudinal movement of the lamp andin order to move it I make use of a drag line 11 which may be made up oftwo wires secured to the rear end of the lamp at 12 and extending fromthat point to the interior of the lamp for the purpose of carrying anelectric current for operating a lamp. Instead of applying current fromoutside, however, the lamp may be operated by a storage battery carriedwithin it. To the forward end of the lamp I secure a line 13 which Iterm a tag line since this line has on it graduations or marks by whichthe distance which it travels may be determined. This line is secured tothe lamp at 14 and I preferably form it in the shape of a steel tapehaving graduations thereon every five inches so that when the lamp 7 ispulled along the sewer by the drag line 11 its distance from the manhole2 can be determined by examining the tag line within the manhole andthus the exact distance from the manhole of any break or defect in thepipe can be determined. The lamp illuminates the interior of the pipeand the telescope being focused on it and being of Sufi cient powerenables the operator in the manhole to accurately locate breaks.

Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patent is,

1. In 'a device of the class described, the combination with a pipe, ofa lamp, spaced from the walls thereof so as to permit a practicallyunobstructed view past said lamp on all sides, the said lamp bein soarranged that its rays will strike the wal s on all sides, means formovably supporting said lamp within said pipe, and means for moving saidlamp longitudinally of said pipe.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a pipe, of alamp, means for movably supporting said lamp within said pipe, said lampbeing so arranged that its rays will strike the walls on all sides,

means for moving said lamp longitudinally of said pipe, and means fordetermining the distance of said lamp from the end of said 1 e. v p Thecombination with a lamp, of curved springs radiating from said lamp, andcables secured to said lamp and extending in opposite directions one ofsaid cables being graduated. g

4. The combination with an elongated lamp, of similarly arranged curvedsprings radiating from said lamp at opposite ends, and cables secured tosaid lamp and extending in opposite directions;

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a lamp, ofsupportin projections radiating from said lamp an oppositely extendingcables secured to said lamp.

6. combination with a tube, of a lamp, means for spacing said lamp fromthe walls of said tube so as to permit a practically unobstructed Viewpast said lamp on all sides, a lens for said lamp adapted to direct therays of light so they will strike the walls of the tube on all sides,and means for moving the lamp longitudinally of said tube.

In testimony whereof I afix my'signature in presence of two witnesses. w

, WILLIAM. W. DIXON.

A Witnesses: o

-' HUDSON N. Mason,

v E. F. Woonwann.

In a device of the class described, the 20

